Nice Work: You're not Sisyphus

Hey there,

Oof. We’re kicking off a new season of Per My Last Email today, and this listener dilemma hit me right in the gut. Because boy, have I been there: Fighting tooth and nail to get my company to take content strategy and UX seriously. Making decks, meeting with stakeholders, changing hearts and minds.

At first, it was energizing. I was doing work that mattered! I was making an impact! And if I’m being honest, I also liked the ego boost that came with that—the feeling that I was necessary. That I was the only one who could make these shifts happen.

But pretty soon, it stopped feeling so energizing. Mostly, it felt like a burden—like I was responsible for literally everything, all by myself.

I felt like I was dragging around a sack of rocks, begging people to help me carry them—all the while believing that if I couldn’t convince them, I was failing.

It’s a pattern I still see in a lot of my coaching clients. They’re so invested in pushing for change at work—whether it’s advocating for user research, or improving accessibility practices, or redesigning a broken recruitment process—that they turn their organization’s problems into their own personal crosses to bear.

Looking back many years later, it reminds me of the old therapist-changing-a-lightbulb joke:

The truth is, my organization didn’t want to change—at least, not nearly as much as I wanted it to. If it had, it would have invested more in that change than throwing one already-overworked 28-year-old at it.

I didn’t see that then. Instead of taking their underinvestment as a cue to step back, I took it as a cue to overinvest—to keep rolling the boulder up the hill, even when it was crushing me.

But I didn’t owe that to my company. Neither does our listener.

And, my friend, neither do you.

So if you relate to any of this, give this episode a listen. And we’re still collecting dilemmas for this season—so if you’ve got a work situation that’s keeping you up at night, send it to us!

—Sara

E28: Should I feel guilty for leaving?

When a job search feels like cheating on your current company.

Listen now

This summer at Active Voice

• It’s too late to sign up for Protect Yourself from ADHD Burnout… but if you’d like Jen and Melissa to host this workshop again, get on the waitlist now! Joining the waitlist helps us know when we have enough interest to schedule another session.

• Speaking of waitlists: the fall session of Power Shift will start on Tuesday, September 16, and we’ll have a special early-bird rate for a few days in August. Join the waitlist now if you want to register with the best deal!

• And finally…if you’ve been thinking of working with us, check your inbox on Monday, June 16. We’ve got a summer flash sale in store!